Vehicle-shaft



(No Model.)

A. PRIEDMANN, Jr. VEHICLE SHAPTS.

No. 500,283. Patented June 27,1893.

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UNITED STATES PATENT EFICE.

ANTON FRIEDMANN, JR., OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

VEHICLE-SHAFT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 500,283, dated June 2'7, 1893.

Application filed November 12, 1892. Serial No. 451,814- (No model.)

to an improvement in the means for properly uniting the opposite ends of the whiffie-tree supporting cross-bar with the shafts or thills,

all of which willbe fully hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a broken plan of the rear portion of one side of an ordinary Vehicle shaft with my invention applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a view taken on line 22 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional elevation taken on line 33 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a plan View showing my invention (about one-third the usual size), and omitting the shafts and cross-bar; Fig. 5, a central cross-section on line 06, at, of Fig. 4, with the shaft and cross-bar therein,showing fully how the joint between said shaft and crossbar is completed.

A is one of two ordinary shafts or thills connected near their inner or rear ends by means of the usual cross-bar B, the latter forming the whiffie-tree support, as customary.

0, represents one of the usual reinforcing bars or straps secured by bolts 0 along the bottom of the downwardly-curved rear ends of said shafts, commencing ata point slightly in advance of said cross-bar, and ending in an eye (not necessarily shown) for the thill-coupling, at the inner ends of said' shafts.

D represents a plate or bar having at one end, projecting upwardly from both sides, a pair of short cheeks d, cl, each of the latter having lateral lugs or cars 61, d. The end of said bottom plate containing said upright cheeks forms a box having its fore, rear and top open for the insertion and seating of the end of the cross-bar B,a horizontal cross-bolt a being passed through the cheeks and crossbar, to firmly hold said end of the latter in place within said open box.

bis a vertical bolt passed downward through the cross-bar and hole I) in the plate D for properly securing the inner end of said plate. The outer face of the end of the cross-bar abuts the inner face of the shaft, and a closefitting and firm butt joint is thereby provided at both ends the cross-bar, suitable horizon-' tal bolts 0, a, being passed transversely through holes in the shaft and said ears (1', d to securely unite the parts, and strongly complete the junction of the ends of the crossbar and both shafts. It will be seen that the inner faces of the lugs and ends of the crossbar, which lie contiguous to or in contact with the inner face of the shaft, take the same taper as the shafts, viz: the two thills incline or tend toward each other at their outer ends, being farthest apart at their rear ends, as usual,and the ends of the cross-bar are made to suit the said incline or taper, thus bringing the construction of said lugs at a corresponding angle to the cheeks d, or slightly less than a right-angle. In the preferred form of device (seen to the left in Figs. 1 and 4, and separatelyin Figs. 3,5 and 6,) in addition to said plate D having the cheeks d, d, and lugs d, d,

. shaft, and a bridge-piece F having an outward extension f, and a short inward extension f, said bridge-piece being constructed integral with, and connecting the two cheeks d, d, at their upper inner corners, as best seen in Fig. 5. The under or lower extension E is concaved to conform to the said strap or reinforce C, over which it laps, and holes or openings e and e, in the same vertical line, are made in the said lower extension E and said upper extension, f, respectively, and in the shaft for the insertion of the securing-bolt c, the latter being made a trifle longer than usual, to accommodate the extra thickness occasioned by the presence of extension E. A spur or pendent sharp-lip G, is preferably provided at the inner end of said extension f,

which is properly sunk into the substance of the cross bar for further augmenting the strength of the joint.

The bridge-piece F not only strengthens the device,butfurnishes a suitable cover to hide the joint where the end of the cross-bar and shaft abut, which is quite neat, and the whole maybe made very ornamental by beveling and polishing. The plate D is both lightened and strengthened by countersinking its inner face, as clearly shown in Figs. 5, 6, 7, and 8.

I claim- 1. In a vehicle shaft, the combination, with a shaft, of the cross bar having its end abutting flat against the side thereof, a plate secured to the under side of the shaft and cross bar, and provided near its outer end with upright side cheeks and lateral cars for engagingwith the cross bar and shaft respectively, said side cheeks being provided with or joined together by a bridge piece formed integral therewith, said bridge piece over lapping the joint between the shaft and cross bar, substantially as set forth.

2. In a vehicle shaft, the combination, with the shaft and the cross bar, of the thill iron secured to the under side of the shaft, a plate secured to the under side of the shaft and bar,

the shaft, and a bolt through the extensions of the plate, the bridge piece and the shaft .and thill iron, substantially as set forth.

In testimony of which invention I have hereunto set my hand.

ANTON FRIEDMANN, JR. Witnesses:

JOHN E. JONES, L. M. J ONES. 

